Portable electronic device and method of controlling same

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling a portable electronic device that has a touch-sensitive display includes displaying information on the touch-sensitive display, detecting a gesture on the touch-sensitive display, scrolling through the information in a first scrolling mode when the gesture is associated with a first area of the touch-sensitive display, and scrolling through the information in a second scrolling mode when the gesture is associated with a second area of the touch-sensitive display.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates to portable electronic devices, includingbut not limited to portable electronic devices having touch screendisplays and their control.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gainedwidespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, forexample, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal informationmanager (PIM) application functions. Portable electronic devicesinclude, for example, several types of mobile stations such as simplecellular telephones, smart telephones, wireless personal digitalassistants (PDAs), and laptop computers with wireless 802.11 orBluetooth capabilities.

Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones aregenerally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Smallerdevices are generally desirable for portability. A touch-sensitivedisplay, also known as a touchscreen display, is particularly useful onhandheld devices, which are small and have limited space for user inputand output. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive displaysmay be modified depending on the functions and operations beingperformed. With continued demand for decreased size of portableelectronic devices, touch-sensitive displays continue to decrease insize.

Improvements in electronic devices with touch-sensitive displays aredesirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a portable electronic device in accordancewith the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates examples of a display before and after scrolling in afirst mode in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates examples of a display before and after scrolling in asecond mode in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates examples of a display before and after scrolling in asecond mode in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of scrolling throughdisplayed information on a portable electronic device in accordance withthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following describes an apparatus for and method of scrolling throughinformation displayed on a touch-sensitive display of a portableelectronic device. A gesture on the touch-sensitive display is detectedand an origin and direction of gesture is determined. The information isscrolled in a mode dependent on the origin of the gesture.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, reference numerals may berepeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogouselements. Numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding ofthe embodiments described herein. The embodiments may be practicedwithout these details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures, and components have not been described in detail to avoidobscuring the embodiments described. The description is not to beconsidered as limited to the scope of the embodiments described herein.

The disclosure generally relates to an electronic device, which is aportable electronic device in the embodiments described herein. Examplesof portable electronic devices include mobile, or handheld, wirelesscommunication devices such as pagers, cellular phones, cellularsmart-phones, wireless organizers, personal digital assistants,wirelessly enabled notebook computers, and so forth. The portableelectronic device may also be a portable electronic device withoutwireless communication capabilities, such as a handheld electronic gamedevice, digital photograph album, digital camera, or other device.

A block diagram of an example of a portable electronic device 100 isshown in FIG. 1. The portable electronic device 100 includes multiplecomponents, such as a processor 102 that controls the overall operationof the portable electronic device 100. Communication functions,including data and voice communications, are performed through acommunication subsystem 104. Data received by the portable electronicdevice 100 is decompressed and decrypted by a decoder 106. Thecommunication subsystem 104 receives messages from and sends messages toa wireless network 150. The wireless network 150 may be any type ofwireless network, including, but not limited to, data wireless networks,voice wireless networks, and networks that support both voice and datacommunications. A power source 142, such as one or more rechargeablebatteries or a port to an external power supply, powers the portableelectronic device 100.

The processor 102 interacts with other components, such as Random AccessMemory (RAM) 108, memory 110, a display 112 with a touch-sensitiveoverlay 114 operably connected to an electronic controller 116 thattogether comprise a touch-sensitive display 118, one or more actuators120, one or more force sensors 122, an auxiliary input/output (I/O)subsystem 124, a data port 126, a speaker 128, a microphone 130,short-range communications 132, and other device subsystems 134.Interaction with a graphical user interface is performed through thetouch-sensitive overlay 114. The processor 102 interacts with thetouch-sensitive overlay 114 via the electronic controller 116.Information, such as text, characters, symbols, images, icons, and otheritems that may be displayed or rendered on a portable electronic device,is displayed on the touch-sensitive display 118 via the processor 102.The processor 102 may interact with an accelerometer 136 that may beutilized to detect direction of gravitational forces or gravity-inducedreaction forces.

To identify a subscriber for network access, the portable electronicdevice 100 uses a Subscriber Identity Module or a Removable UserIdentity Module (SIM/RUIM) card 138 for communication with a network,such as the wireless network 150. Alternatively, user identificationinformation may be programmed into memory 110.

The portable electronic device 100 includes an operating system 146 andsoftware programs or components 148 that are executed by the processor102 and are typically stored in a persistent, updatable store such asthe memory 110. Additional applications or programs may be loaded ontothe portable electronic device 100 through the wireless network 150, theauxiliary I/O subsystem 124, the data port 126, the short-rangecommunications subsystem 132, or any other suitable subsystem 134.

A received signal such as a text message, an e-mail message, or web pagedownload is processed by the communication subsystem 104 and input tothe processor 102. The processor 102 processes the received signal foroutput to the display 112 and/or to the auxiliary I/O subsystem 124. Asubscriber may generate data items, for example e-mail messages, whichmay be transmitted over the wireless network 150 through thecommunication subsystem 104. For voice communications, the overalloperation of the portable electronic device 100 is similar. The speaker128 outputs audible information converted from electrical signals, andthe microphone 130 converts audible information into electrical signalsfor processing.

The touch-sensitive display 118 may be any suitable touch-sensitivedisplay, such as a capacitive, resistive, infrared, surface acousticwave (SAW) touch-sensitive display, strain gauge, optical imaging,dispersive signal technology, acoustic pulse recognition, and so forth,as known in the art. A capacitive touch-sensitive display includes acapacitive touch-sensitive overlay 114. The overlay 114 may be anassembly of multiple layers in a stack including, for example, asubstrate, a ground shield layer, a barrier layer, one or morecapacitive touch sensor layers separated by a substrate or otherbarrier, and a cover. The capacitive touch sensor layers may be anysuitable material, such as patterned indium tin oxide (ITO).

One or more touches, also known as touch contacts or touch events, maybe detected by the touch-sensitive display 118. The processor 102 maydetermine attributes of the touch, including a location of a touch.Touch location data may include an area of contact or a single point ofcontact, such as a point at or near a center of the area of contact. Thelocation of a detected touch may include x and y components, e.g.,horizontal and vertical components, respectively, with respect to one'sview of the touch-sensitive display 118. For example, the x locationcomponent may be determined by a signal generated from one touch sensor,and the y location component may be determined by a signal generatedfrom another touch sensor. A signal is provided to the controller 116 inresponse to detection of a touch. A touch may be detected from anysuitable object, such as a finger, thumb, appendage, or other items, forexample, a stylus, pen, or other pointer, depending on the nature of thetouch-sensitive display 118. Multiple simultaneous touches may bedetected.

The actuator(s) 120 may be depressed by applying sufficient force to thetouch-sensitive display 118 to overcome the actuation force of theactuator 120. The actuator 120 may be actuated by pressing anywhere onthe touch-sensitive display 118. The actuator 120 may provide input tothe processor 102 when actuated. Actuation of the actuator 120 mayresult in provision of tactile feedback.

A mechanical dome switch actuator may be utilized. In this example,tactile feedback is provided when the dome collapses due to impartedforce and when the dome returns to the rest position after release ofthe switch.

Alternatively, the actuator 120 may comprise one or more piezoelectric(piezo) actuators that provide tactile feedback for the touch-sensitivedisplay 118. Contraction of the piezo actuator(s) applies a spring-likeforce, for example, opposing a force externally applied to thetouch-sensitive display 118. Each piezo actuator includes apiezoelectric device, such as a piezoelectric disk, adhered to asubstrate such as a metal substrate. The substrate bends when thepiezoelectric device contracts due to build up of charge/voltage at thepiezoelectric device or in response to a force, such as an externalforce applied to the touch-sensitive display 118. The charge/voltage maybe adjusted by varying the applied voltage or current, therebycontrolling the force applied by the piezo actuators. The charge/voltageat the piezo actuator may be removed by a controlled discharge currentthat causes the piezoelectric device to expand, releasing the forcethereby decreasing the force applied by the piezo actuators. Thecharge/voltage may advantageously be removed over a relatively shortperiod of time to provide tactile feedback to the user. Absent anexternal force and absent a charge/voltage at the piezo actuator, thepiezo actuator may be slightly bent due to a mechanical preload.

The touch-sensitive display 118 is configured to display informationfrom an application, such as a web browser, contacts, email, calendar,music player, spreadsheet, word processing, operating system interface,and so forth, in a display area. A virtual keyboard may be displayed inan input area, for example, below the display area in the orientation ofthe portable electronic device 100 and includes keys for entry ofalphanumeric characters, punctuation or symbols.

The touch-sensitive display 118 is also configured to detect a gesture.A gesture, such as a swipe, is a type of touch, also known as a flick,that begins at an origin and continues to a finish point while touchcontact is maintained. A swipe may be long or short in distance and/orduration. Two points of the swipe are utilized to determine a vectorthat describes a direction of the swipe. The direction may be referencedwith respect to the touch-sensitive display 118, the orientation of theinformation displayed on the touch-sensitive display 118, or anotherreference. For the purposes of providing a reference, “horizontal” asutilized herein is substantially left-to-right or right-to-left relativeto the orientation of the displayed information, and “vertical” asutilized herein is substantially upward or downward relative to theorientation of the displayed information. The origin and the finishpoint of the swipe may optionally be utilized to determine the magnitudeor distance of the swipe. The duration of the swipe is determined fromthe origin and finish point of the swipe in time. The controller 116and/or the processor 102 determine the direction, magnitude, and/orduration of the swipe.

When a gesture such as a swipe is detected and associated with thedisplay area of the touch-sensitive display 118, page scrolling withinthe information occurs. Page scrolling is a mode of scrolling in whichthe information may be advanced or reversed as the information isdisplayed. The direction of page scrolling may be based on the directionof the swipe. When a swipe is associated with the input area of thetouch-sensitive display 118, cursor scrolling of the information occurs.Cursor scrolling is a mode of scrolling in which a cursor is rendered onthe touch-sensitive display 118 and may be advanced or reversed,depending on the direction of the swipe, through the informationdisplayed on the touch-sensitive display. The cursor scrolls through theinformation while maintaining display of the cursor. Alternatively,cursor scrolling may be utilized when a gesture is associated with thedisplay area, and page scrolling may be utilized when a gesture isassociated with the input area.

Because a touch-sensitive display 118 on a portable electronic device100 is typically relatively small, the amount of information displayedis typically much less than the amount of information that may bedisplayed, for example, on a computer monitor or other larger device.Information from an application, based on the screen size and memorycapability of the device controlling the display of information on thescreen, is available to be displayed using scrolling techniques. Theamount of information is often more than fits on a screen or window atone time.

The information may comprise, for example, a webpage, electronicmessaging or mail text, contact details, calendar event details,spreadsheet data, text or word processing, to name a few. For example,when entering calendar event details for scheduling a calendar event,the calendar application may display of 10 lines of information at atime while displaying a virtual keyboard for entry of data in fields ofthe calendar event. The calendar event, however, may include 50 lines ofinformation. Typically, a user may advance or reverse through theinformation by scrolling using a control such as a button or menuoption. The use of a scrolling mode that is determined based on theassociation of the gesture, such as the gesture's origin, finish point,or other attribute, rather than selection of a button or use of a menufacilitates quicker, seamless navigation and interaction. Page scroll orcursor scroll may be immediately engaged or utilized at any time.Without the need to find and press a button or to enter a menu, theprocess of navigating to view, add, delete, and edit data is faster.

An example of a touch-sensitive display 118 before and after scrollingin a first mode is shown in FIG. 2, and an example of a touch-sensitivedisplay 118 before and after scrolling in a second mode is shown in FIG.3. In these examples, the portable electronic device 100 is utilized forcomposing and sending an email utilizing an email application.Information entered is displayed in a display area 202 of thetouch-sensitive display 118, and a virtual keyboard is displayed in aninput area 204 of the touch-sensitive display 118. The display area 202is disposed above the input area 204 in the orientation in which theinformation is displayed. The virtual keyboard includes keys for entryof characters such as letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols, and soforth, as well as functions, such as shift, enter, or delete, forcomposing the email and may be a reduced keyboard in which at least someof the keys are associated with multiple alphabetical letters.Optionally, the keyboard may be a full keyboard in which eachalphabetical letter is associated with a respective key.

The information includes, for example, email header fields such as a“To” field, a “Cc” field, a “Subject” field and a body field. Each ofthe fields of the email may be edited during composition of the emailand a cursor 206 is shown rendered in the information. The cursor 206indicates, for example, the position, within the information, at whichadditions, deletions, or edits may be made. The user may scroll throughthe email in the page scrolling mode to view or edit any of the fieldsof the email. The origin 208 is shown in FIG. 2 in the display area 202on the touch-sensitive display 118 and the direction of the gesture isdownward with respect to the displayed information, to the finish pointat the tip of the arrow 210. When the gesture is detected, thetouch-sensitive display 118 advances through the information, therebydisplaying different information. Similarly, page scrolling may be inthe reverse direction to display prior information utilizing an upwardgesture with respect to the displayed information and with the origin ofthe gesture in the display area 202. Page scrolling may additionallyoccur in the horizontal direction with respect to the displayedinformation.

Optionally, the length of the gesture, either by distance or timeduration, may be utilized to determine what part of the information todisplay or to determine how far to advance or reverse the information.Two, three, or more levels of distinction may be utilized. For example,a two-level system divides gestures into short gestures and longgestures, wherein one or more thresholds are utilized to determinewhether a gesture is considered long or short. A short gesture advancesor reverses the information by an amount, such as shown in FIG. 2 and along gesture advances or reverses the information a greater amount.

A long gesture may be utilized to jump to the end or the beginning ofthe information or may be interpreted as advancing or reversing theinformation by a large amount. The amount of scrolling may varydepending on the amount of information.

A three-level system divides gestures into short gestures, mediumgestures, and long gestures, wherein two or more thresholds are utilizedto determine whether a gesture is considered short, medium, or long. Forexample, short gesture may be interpreted as advancing or reversing byan amount, a medium gesture may be interpreted as advancing or reversingby a greater amount, and a long gesture may be interpreted as advancingor reversing to the end or start of the information. The thresholds forthe length may be based on dimensions of the touch-sensitive display118. Alternatively, the long gesture may be interpreted as one thatbegins on the screen and continues off the edge of the screen 118,whereas the short and medium gestures are determined by a threshold andthese gestures both originate and end on the screen 118.

The user may scroll through the email in the cursor scrolling mode tomove the cursor 206 within the information. The origin 302 is shown inFIG. 3 in the input area 204 on the touch-sensitive display 118, and thedirection of the gesture is downward with respect to the displayedinformation, to the finish point at the tip of the arrow 304. When thegesture is detected, the touch-sensitive display 118 moves the cursor206 to a new location within the information. The movement of the cursoris advantageously in the same direction as the direction of the gesture.Thus, the cursor 206 may be moved within the information without pagescrolling through the information. For example, when the cursor 206 islocated near the top of the display area 202 and a downward gesture isdetected with an origin in the input area 204, cursor scrolling isinitiated. The information displayed on the touch-sensitive display 118may, however, be advanced to move the cursor within the informationduring cursor scrolling, for example, when the cursor 206 is locatednear the bottom of the display area 202 and a downward gesture isdetected with an origin in the input area 204. Cursor scrolling may alsooccur in the reverse direction, to move the cursor up in theinformation, for example, when an upward swipe is detected with theorigin of the gesture in the input area 204. Cursor scrolling may occurhorizontally to move the cursor laterally within the information.Detection of a horizontal gesture, from right to left or from left toright, such as the gesture with origin 402 in the input area 204 shownin FIG. 4.

Optionally, the length of the gesture, either by distance or timeduration, may be utilized to determine how far to advance or reverse thecursor 202 within the information. Two, three, or more levels ofdistinction may be utilized. A short gesture may advance or reverse thecursor by one line of information or one character and a long gesturemay advance or reverse the cursor by more than one line of informationor more than one character.

A long gesture may be utilized to move the cursor to the end or thebeginning of the information for a generally vertical gesture or may beused to move the cursor to the end or beginning of a line for agenerally horizontal gesture. Alternatively, a long gesture may beinterpreted as advancing or reversing the cursor within the informationby multiple lines or characters. The number of multiples may vary.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying informationbased on a detected gesture. The method may be carried out by softwareexecuted by, for example, the processor 102. Coding of software forcarrying out such a method is within the scope of a person of ordinaryskill in the art given the present description. The method may containadditional or fewer processes than shown and/or described, and may beperformed in a different order. Computer-readable code executable by atleast one processor of the portable electronic device to perform themethod may be stored in a computer-readable medium. Information isdisplayed 502 on the touch-sensitive display 118 of the portableelectronic device 100. In the example shown, an email is navigatedthrough in an email application. When a gesture is detected 504, anassociation of the gesture with an area of the touch-sensitive display118 is determined. For example, an origin, finish point, percentage ofgesture located in an area, or other characteristic may be identified todetermine which area, e.g., display area 202 or input area 204, isassociated with the gesture. A direction of the gesture may also bedetermined, and the direction of scrolling may be based on the directionof the gesture. The scrolling mode is determined 506 based on theassociation, e.g., origin, finish point, percentage of area, and soforth. When the association of the gesture is with the display area 202of the touch-sensitive display 118, e.g., when the origin of the gestureis at a location associated with the display area 202, the pagescrolling mode is utilized, and the information is page scrolled 508,for example, based on the direction of the gesture. The page scrollingmode may optionally include determining a length of the gesture anddisplaying a different part of the information based on the length ofthe gesture. When the association of the gesture is with the input area204 of the touch-sensitive display 118, e.g., when the origin of thegesture is at a location associated with the input area 204, the cursorscrolling mode is utilized, and the cursor 202 is scrolled 510 throughthe information.

A method of controlling a portable electronic device that has atouch-sensitive display, includes displaying information on thetouch-sensitive display, detecting a gesture on the touch-sensitivedisplay, scrolling through the information in a first scrolling modewhen the gesture is associated with a first area of the touch-sensitivedisplay, and scrolling through the information in a second scrollingmode when the gesture is associated with a second area of thetouch-sensitive display.

A computer-readable medium has computer-readable code embodied thereinthat is executable by at least one processor of a portable electronicdevice to perform the above method.

A portable electronic device includes a touch-sensitive displayconfigured to display information. A processor is configured to detect agesture on the touch-sensitive display, scroll through the informationin a first scrolling mode when the gesture is associated with a firstarea of the touch-sensitive display, and scroll through the informationin a second scrolling mode when the gesture is associated with a secondarea of the touch-sensitive display.

The method of scrolling described herein facilitates interaction andselection, for example, of a cursor position within informationdisplayed for editing. A detected swipe on a touch screen display may beutilized to scroll in either of two modes, in any direction for viewingthe information. The mode for scrolling is determined based on theassociation of the gesture with a display area, and enables scrolling ineither of the two modes without requiring any further button, menu, orother more time-consuming process. Thus, different parts of informationmay be displayed and/or edited more quickly, decreasing powerrequirements, and increasing battery life, and providing an improveduser experience.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is, therefore,indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes that come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. A method comprising: providing for a first application, textdisplayed in an area of a touch-sensitive display and a keyboarddisposed below the first area relative to the orientation in which thetext is displayed; in response to detecting a first gesture that beginson the area of the touch-sensitive display, scrolling through the textto display different text in the area, wherein an amount of scrollingthrough the text is dependent on the length of the first gesture; inresponse to detecting a second gesture that begins on the keyboard,scrolling a cursor through the text in a direction dependent on adirection of the gesture, wherein the amount of scrolling the cursor isdependent on the length of the second gesture.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the amount of scrolling through the text is alsodependent on a total amount of text for display.
 3. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein scrolling through the text comprises page scrolling.4. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting a first gesturecomprises detecting a swipe.
 5. The method according to claim 1, whereindetecting a second gesture comprises detecting a swipe.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the keyboard is configured to receiveinput for display in the area and the text includes the input.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising displaying different text in thearea to advance the cursor through the text during scrolling the cursorwhen the cursor is located near an edge of the area.
 8. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having computer-readable code executable by atleast one processor of the portable electronic device to perform themethod of claim 1.